Cera's Mysterious Sickness revised
by karkovice
Summary: Just did a rewrite of my original story subdivided into chapters to make it easier to read.
1. Introduction

**CERA'S MYSTERIOUS SICKNESS**

**(SEQUEL TO "THE TIME OF GREAT NEED")**

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The idea for this story came to me after a friend of mine, and fellow Land Before Time fan, told me of how the scene in "The Time Of Great Need" where Cera the threehorn had a mental breakdown while tending to the sick sharptooth reminded her of the condition her late grandfather, a World War 2 veteran, suffered for years after he came home.

He was eventually diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. It was first noticed in Vietnam War veterans shortly after that war ended in 1972. It was eventually linked to not only veterans of the 2 Great Wars, but also ordinary people who had witnessed, or experienced, something deeply traumatic in their lives. Like a murder, the death of a loved one, and even an alien abduction! The symptoms most commonly described are nightmares, phobias, cold sweats, palpitations, hallucinations and depression.

Landmarks are currently being made in the ways of treating this condition so that the sufferers can lead normal everyday lives. My hat goes off to the people responsible in researching and treating this terrible condition!

As regards this story, the thought came to me: What would it be like if Cera was suffering from this condition after what she went through in The Valley of The Sick? Would her closest friends be able to figure out how to help her overcome her "mysterious sickness" before it was too late? Would they be able to help her before she eventually does something terrible to herself and others? Or suffer irreparable mental damage?

This story tells about this very process. I find it's also a great morality story about friends staying friends no matter what. As well as friends doing the impossible in helping one who is in need. I strongly recommend you read the prequel to this story, "A Time of Great Need", in order to get the background to the plot for this, which is literally its sequel. Thank you for your attention and support.


	2. Chapter 1 Mating Ceremony

**CHAPTER 1**

**MATING CEREMONY**

It has been four seasons now since Little Foot, Petrie, Ducky and Cera the threehorn have returned to The Great Valley after spending nearly two months in the heart of Sharptooth Country helping them cure a "Bloody Tummy" epidemic. In the process, many sharptooth have died from the sickness; but many more were saved.

It was thanks to Cera, and her knowledge of medicine, that they were able to find the cure to that devastating disease. The sharptooth were eternally grateful for their heroic efforts; and Chief Berserker, the Head of the Grand Sharptooth Council, showed his kind's gratefulness by bestowing upon them necklaces made from what he claimed to be "the bones of their ancestors". He also said that they were highly sacred to his kind, and were not given out freely to just anybody. The flattooth realized that the sharptooth were indeed giving them a great and high honour.

Since then, they've proudly worn the necklaces everywhere they went. Especially Little Foot, who was also the Leader of The Great Valley High Council. He wore it every time the Council was in session. Although it made a lot of the Great Valley residents look at them kind of funny, some of them have gotten used to these "special flattooth" and their sharptooth bone necklaces. A few even viewed them as living legends! And every time they saw the necklaces, they were reminded of their heroic actions that literally saved their way of life forever!

They also came in handy whenever they ventured out into The Mysterious Beyond. Word had spread quickly among the sharptooth everywhere of what happened in The Valley of The Sick, and that the Grand Sharptooth Council had given them these necklaces made of their ancestors' bones as a token of their esteem. A most sacred honour, in their minds! In fact, they had become legends themselves in the sharptooth culture, even if they were just green eaters! Word was given that if ever a sharptooth were to see these necklaces on the flattooth, they were to be left alone. Matter of fact, there WERE a few encounters with sharptooth; but once they saw the necklaces, they either walked away, or bowed to them in respect. That's when they realized that these strange things they wore around their neck was a sort of life saver, for they would've certainly have been killed many times over, if it were not for that! Then they decided to start wearing them all the time, everywhere they went!

Chomper, their sharptooth friend, was also honoured that day by Chief Berserker. He had been named the first ever Foreign Ambassador to The Green Eaters, mostly thanks to his knowledge of the flattooth language, and that it was thanks to that that he was able to convince his friends to come help the sharptooth vanquish a sickness that was unknown to them at the time; and that it all started when a careless sharptooth had killed and eaten an infected flattooth.

As Foreign Ambassador, Chomper was sent to live amongst the flattooth, and was to act as political liaison between them and his sharptooth brethren. This honour was extended to his mate, V'leck; and their son, Roary; who went to live with him. They had selected a cave just outside the entrance to the Great Valley in which to dwell. V'leck had slowly gotten used to her role as a Foreign Ambassador's mate; and Roary as a Foreign Ambassador's son. They were, indeed, special sharptooth amongst the flattooth, and have been living happily in the Great Valley ever since!

Ever since their return from this "errand of mercy", as they had come to call it, they never saw things the same way! They never saw _sharptooth_ the same way, either! Especially Cera, who had been taught by her father, the late great Councilor Topsy, the "ways of the sharptooth", ever since she was a youngling.

It wasn't until during her stint in The Valley of The Sick that she realized that everything her father had taught her was all lies based on prejudice. Or maybe, as she would later come to suspect, that he always had this vendetta, or death wish upon them because his mate, her mother, was killed by a sharptooth shortly after she hatched from her egg. Of course, her father never actually told her HOW she died. Every time she asked him, he always said something like "It doesn't matter HOW she died! She's DEAD, and that's that!" She eventually stopped trying to get the truth out of him. She would always view the way her mother died as based on pure speculation.

Her father always had a firm paw at things. She was often reminded by others that that firmness had rubbed off on her. When she was old enough to realize that her father was not perfect, she didn't love him any less, despite all of his faults. And she knew that, deep down inside, he had loved her too, his favourite and only surviving daughter; though he did not fully show it, she knew he cared about her very much.

It was only after she was able to look past her differences towards the sharptooth that she was able to bond more closely with Chomper. As a youngling, she always saw him as an outsider. As one who would never really become a part of her gang of friends, simply because he was a sharptooth. Little Foot was more accepting of that possibility, but not her; and they had a lot of arguments about that fact all throughout their youth.

But Chomper had really helped her a lot during that time in The Valley of The Sick! She even went as far as to stay with Chomper in his cave on the second night of their heroic mission! It was here that she learned the true meaning of male and female togetherness. She never thought she would have such feelings for a male! She thought it was a shame that Chomper was not a threehorn, because she would've become mates with him, if he was! Instead, she settled for them just being _really special friends._ Besides, it was also thanks to Chomper that she was made to realize that there was a male threehorn back in the Great Valley who cared a lot about her; and that it was up to her to decide if she wants to accept this male's courtship, or not.

But all of them would eventually come to suspect that, way in the distant past, flattooth and sharptooth alike were once the same. That they were all a part of one big herd! One giant flattooth herd! The idea was considered ridiculous by many, but they would not dismiss that possibility.

Today was just like any other day in The Great Valley, except for one thing: A very special ceremony was to take place at the Council meeting area today; and, of course, Chomper and his family were invited.

They had woke at dawn, just as the bright circle was rising in the sky. It was nice and warm already! You couldn't ask for a more perfect day! There was sky water the day before, as so often happens in The Great Valley; and it fell all the day and throughout most of the night. But this morning was just ideal! There was still water on the leaves of the trees and plants, but the bright circle will drink that up pretty quickly!

After breakfast, they headed down towards the valley entrance. Chomper made sure he didn't forget the scepter made from a long neck bone- complete with a carving of a sharptooth's head on top- that was given to him by Chief Berserker, and identified him as the sharptooth's Foreign Ambassador.

On this occasion, he also wore the furry skin of a strange mammal he had killed one time while he was out hunting. He especially liked the colour of the furry skin; which was light brown, almost beige. What he thought was peculiar about this creature was the two long sharp teeths that protruded from its mouth. He had never seen such a creature before! Yet he knew this mammal was a sharptooth, like he was. The pointy teeth in its mouth was proof of that! He thought the meat was tough to chew and hard to swallow, but he was able to digest it anyway. He had kept the strange furry skin of the mammal because he thought it looked so special, and he felt he deserved to have it as a "hunting trophy". _The creature HAD been tough to kill!_ He would tell his family.

He had fashioned the skin into a headdress, and he tied the two forelimbs of the creature's skin around his neck to keep it in place. V'leck and Roary thought the headdress looked good on him, made him look proud somehow. They vowed to try and catch a similar creature to get a headdress of their own, whenever they went out hunting. Some flattooth in the valley, though, saw it differently. A lot of them felt uneasy around him whenever he wore the headdress. To them, it was an all too familiar reminder of what he REALLY was, and what he could potentially DO to them. Chomper knew it was pointless reminding them that they could feel safe around him. Matter of fact, he didn't care! It was up to them to accept him or shun him. Besides, he had more than enough friends in the valley who liked to have him around to make up for those who'd rather keep their distance.

When they neared the valley entrance, they saw that the usual two threehorn guards were on duty, but there were others there as well: A threehorn male, female, and their two younglings. Ever since word spread among the flattooth living outside of The Great Valley that it was a place where they can find sanctuary, there's been a large influx of flattooth wanting to migrate there on a permament basis. There were two entrances to The Great Valley: The ravine where Chomper came through during the "Bloody Tummy" crisis, and The Mysterious Beyond. Most flattooth came through the ravine entrance, as it was safer.

As he neared the entrance, he could hear the male threehorn guard in charge asking questions to the threehorn patriarch. Little Foot had established this as their normal procedure whenever someone sought to enter The Great Valley.

Chomper saw the female threehorn lazily turn to gaze in his direction, and knew what was coming. He rolled his deep red eyes as her own immediately went wide with fear. "SHARPTOOTH!" she yelled out as she assumed her defensive posture. Both her younglings screamed and ran to hide behind their mother's legs, visibly shaking in fear.

"Relax!" the threehorn guard said reassuringly. "It's only Chomper and his family. They're harmless! Don't worry, you'll get to know them."

"Good morning!" the guard said as he approached them.

Chomper smiled and nodded. "Morning. New arrivals?" he said as he glanced at the threehorn family.

They were dumbfounded that this sharptooth before them was actually conversing with one of the threehorn guards... AND IN THE GREEN EATER LANGUAGE. The male threehorn even managed to mouth "He speaks GREEN EATER!" to the other guard standing beside him. To which the guard just smiled and nodded "Mm Hmm."

"Yeah. There's a whole slew of them coming in every day!"

Chomper shrugged. "Well, I guess that's good."

"Okay, you can go on through." the guard said as he moved aside. "They're waiting for you at the Council meeting place."

"Thank you." Chomper nodded as he and his family walked on past. As he passed the threehorn family, who were still looking at him with much wide eyed fear in their eyes, he looked sidelong at them, smiled and winked at them. This made the female threehorn sigh and faint. Chomper let loose rumbling laughter when as her mate started to fan air in her face with his forepaw crying out "Honey! HONEY! You ok?"

"_AAW! DAAAD! You're so cruel!"_ Roary said in the native sharptooth language.

Chomper laughed. _"I know!"_ he replied as he ruffled his son's head.

V'Leck just giggled and kissed him on his left cheek. That's another reason why she chose him as her life mate: His antics always made her laugh.

When they arrived at the Council meeting place, V'Leck and Roary went to take their usual place among the crowd while Chomper went to stand next to his eternal long neck friend, Little Foot, who had adopted the grown up name "Lesik" when he was old enough to decide not carry his old youngling name any more; but still allowed his closest friends, including Chomper, to call him that.

"Well, good morning to you!" he said when he saw the smiling Chomper, who had adopted the grown up name "Teekul" when he came of age. "How's my favourite sharptooth in all of The Great Valley!" He bent down to happily rub Chomper's right cheek in greeting, his bone necklace audibly jingling in the process.

Chomper was purring lightly as he accepted Little Foot's friendship rub. "Just fine, thanks!" Chomper happily replied as he patted his big friend's massive cheek.

"How's the family?" Little Foot asked.

"They're fine, too! And anxiously awaiting this important ceremony to get under way."

"Well, you know what they say: Business before pleasure." Little Foot smiled.

Chomper nodded. "Of course."

"By the way, did the sharptooth messenger leave?"

Chomper nodded. "He left yesterday. I gave him my report, as usual."

"What news from back home?"

"Well, there's been no new cases of 'Bloody Tummy', which is GOOD... And Chief Berserker's apparently announced that he's become mates with a female sharptooth of high standing: The daughter of one of the Councilors. He's given them his blessing, and everything. The female's father, that is!" Chomper smiled.

"Well, good for him!" Little Foot beamed.

Chomper nodded. "Yeah. Except that, at the same time, another female sharptooth has come forward saying that HE was the father of her daughter. Of course, he's denying everything about it!"

Little Foot looked surprised. "So he's got a bastard daughter!"

"I prefer the term 'illegitimate'... but... YES! Or so this female maintains. But it's gonna be hard for her to prove that her daughter is his..."

Little Foot simply nodded.

Chomper continued. "You know, there was a time, in our distant past, where a male sharptooth-in order to ensure the survival of our kind- would father offspring with many sharptooth females. Such a thing was considered normal back then; but NOW, having just one lifelong mate is more the norm; which is why this is making a lot of sharptooth back home nervous. If what this female claims is true, there would be such tremendous outrage that Chief Berserker would have to renounce his position as Leader of The Grand Sharptooth Council in shame!"

Little Foot nodded. "I see... Well, the same may have been true with us green eaters. One male having many female mates, I mean... But when the sharptooth had that big festival in our honour, I noticed that Chief Berserker was dancing with a lot of sharptooth females."

Chomper smiled and nodded. "Being Leader of The Grand Council, and being single, he's had the attention of a LOT of females! But he's faced adversity before. He knows how to handle it. This is no different. Just like I've learned during my time here that one green eater mating pair could bring forth several hatchlings in one lifetime! Much like us."

"Speaking of which, have you and V'leck ever talked about having another baby?"

Chomper nodded. "We've talked about it, but haven't come to a decision. We haven't even brought Roary into the discussion yet!" He glanced back to where his mate and son were standing in the crowd. "Being both only childs, we've never known what it was like to have a sibling; so we wouldn't know how to handle any disputes Roary may have with his younger brother or sister. BUT, if we DO decide to have another baby, we'll make sure he's the first to know." Chomper looked up at his big long neck friend as he smiled.

Little Foot smiled back down at him before he announced. "Okay, I think we're ready. PLACES EVERYONE!" he cried out as he brought the Great Valley Grand Council session to order.

For the rest of the morning, the Councilors debated over issues regarding skirmishes between long necks and threehorns over who has rightful claim over cave dwellings and other areas of residency in and around The Great Valley. Ever since news spread that the valley was a virtual sanctuary from the cruelty of the outside world, more and more flattooth were coming in every day, looking to become residents.

Little Foot just stood on the rock altar that marked his place as Council Leader, listened intently to the arguments of each case, and rendered decisions, when he had to. Chomper stood next to him, and just observed the proceedings, as was his duty as Foreign Ambassador.

Little Foot was thinking he may have to decree a rule establishing some kind of measure of control for the influx of new flattooth. It may have to take the form of some type of strict screening of incoming flattooth. But for now, the procedures focused on determining which flattooth family had rightful claim to live in which dwelling and which had not.

By the time midday rolled around, all of the cases were heard and decided upon. Then the Council session was adjourned. Preparations then began for the important ceremony that was planned well in advance, and was to be held that afternoon.

A short time after they returned to The Great Valley from their "errand of mercy" in the Sharptooth Countries, Cera had become mates with the threehorn male named Wendyk, who was also the Head of The Threehorn Security Detail. Their job was to protect the borders of The Great Valley of Peace from any wayward sharptooth attacks. It wasn't a very demanding job, but they did it with pride.

Although flattooth all over become mates practically every other day, only a few request that their union be somehow "blessed" by a flattooth Leader. Little Foot had personally never done this type of ceremony before, but he had seen his grandfather perform it many times. Yet he never really paid much attention to the proceedings. Which was why he was surprised when Cera and Wendyk approached him and asked him if he could perform the blessing ceremony for them. Little Foot finally said he would. Now he's got to remember how the ceremony was done when the time came!

Chomper had mentioned that he and V'Leck also had THEIR union blessed by Chief Berserker just before Roary's egg emerged from V'Leck's womb. Little Foot asked him how he remembered the ceremony was performed. Chomper was able to give him some helpful tips on how to do it, and how to act.

It was early afternoon by the time everything was ready. Although only Cera and Wendyk's closest friends were invited, a large crowd of Great Valley residents wanting to see this rare ceremony had gathered. There were many strange faces in the crowd! For this occasion, Cera was wearing a necklace of pretty pink flowers around her neck, and a small bracelet of the same flowers around her right forelimb. Chomper mentioned to Little Foot that the flowers smelled nice. He always knew that, as a sharptooth, Chomper had a hypersensitive sense of smell. He had always relied on him to tell him if something smelled good or bad.

Cera had loaned Wendyk her bone necklace she had gotten from the sharptooth, and he wore it proudly. Wendyk's parents, as well as his younger sister, were sitting over to his left. They had moved to The Great Valley, and become residents a short time after, when they heard that Wendyk had taken Cera as his life mate. Little Foot figured it was mostly because they wanted to be around in case they decided to have babies, though they haven't really decided on that yet.

When everything was in place, Little Foot motioned them forward. They both came forward to stand in front of the altar, Wendyk's bone necklace jingling and jangling all the way.

Then Little Foot spoke in a voice loud enough for all to hear. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bear witness to the official blessing of the mateship union between these two threehorns. I have personally known Cera all of my life, and I have known Wendyk for a few seasons now. And seeing the way they treat each other, and treat those around them; I am firmly convinced that this male and this female were made for each other. It is literally a match made in The Great Beyond! And I am..."

Several applause from the gathered crowd forced Little Foot to stop his speech.

He waited until they died down before he continued. "And I am immensely proud and honoured to officially bless them here today."

More applause erupted from the crowd.

"But if there are any here present today, who feel that these two threehorns should NOT remain mates, speak now, or forever hold your piece."

After a few moments of silence, he continued.

"Please come forward." Little Foot said as he motioned to them. They did as he said.

Little Foot bent his head down so that he can be at eye level with them."Uhh... Guys? Since this is my first blessing of this sort, please bear with me, if I were to make any mistakes, ok?"

Laughs erupted from those who were able to overhear Little Foot as both threehorns smiled and nodded up to him.

"Do you, Cera Horn, take this male to be your life mate to love, honour and cherish; for better or worse; for good times, for bad times; for prosperity and destitution; in sickness and in health; for as long as you both shall live?"

Cera nodded. "I do."

"And do you, Wendyk MacTavish, take this female to be your life mate to love, honour and cherish; for better or worse; for good times, and bad times; for prosperity and destitution; in sickness and in health; for as long as you both shall live?"

Wendyk smiled and gazed lovingly at Cera. "I do!"

Little Foot smiled, then raised his head up high to say loudly. "Then, by the power vested in me, in The Great Valley, and in ALL of The Green Eater Lands, I hereby officially bless you as life mates!"

Little Foot then bent down and tapped each of them on the top of their heads with his chin.

"You may now kiss your mate!"

Cheers erupted as their lips touched each other, and they stayed that way for what seemed like minutes. Several two footers, including Ducky, had brought flower petals and threw them up in the air in joy. _I'm sure if Spike were still alive, he'd eat them all!_ Little Foot thought.

Somewhere in the crowd, a familiar flyer was sniffing and sobbing.

"Petrie, what's wrong?" Ducky asked.

"Nothing!" Petrie said in a shaky voice. "Me always cry at mating ceremonies!" he was wiping his tears away with his wing fingers.

"Aaaaawww!" Ducky said as she hugged his friend, and kissed him on the cheek. Petrie bawled as he hugged her back.

When the ovation had died down, Little Foot spoke again. "And this concludes this ceremony!"

Polite applause erupted from the crowd.

"And now, for all those who are interested, there will be a grand celebration full of feasting, dancing and singing over by the river. I must say, we could not have asked for a better day! The bright circle is shining down brightly upon all of us here today; especially upon these two; as I'm sure it is shining as equally brightly in their hearts!"

He paused to allow the crowd to applaud one more time.

"LET THE FESTIVITES BEGIN!" he finished with a flourish as he called an official end to the procedings.

For the rest of the day, there was much celebrating all throughout The Great Valley of Peace. There was entertainment galore for everyone all throughout the rest of the day, and into the evening. While the flattooth had their usual food, Chomper's family had a big meal of fish. Chomper had taught V'leck and Roary how to catch the speedy swimmers. Roary had taken to it quickly, while V'Leck still struggled at times. She was more used to catching land based critters.

When it comes to red meat, they limited themselves to hunting the plentiful mammals that were scattered all throughout the Green Eater lands; but the Great Valley residents have adopted the habit of sending word to V'Leck to come strip whatever meat she wanted off of the body of a flattooth, whenever he or she died, before it was disposed tossed into what was now known as The Mourning Abyss. It was the very cliff where Topsy was pushed off during his Mourning Ceremony. Since then, all of the bodies of the Great Valley residents who have died were dumped off this very deep cliff. It was here where V'Leck started this bizarre "ritual" of hers. Most of the Great Valley residents didn't mind, as long as she only limited herself to the corpses of the now deceased flattooth. She was especially happy when it was a long neck that passed on, because she was able to make multiple trips from the corpse to her cave and back in order to bring back as much of the meat as she could. Sometimes, she even had Chomper and Roary help her in the effort. It was cool enough towards the back of their cave in order to store the meat and keep it fresh until she, Chomper and Roary could go through it. Those assigned to pushing the long neck body over the cliff were also grateful that she was there to strip whatever meat she could off of the body, thus reducing the weight they needed to heave; which, in turn, made it easier to push the body off. Long neck deaths didn't happen very often, though Most often, she had to deal with the much smaller threehorn, swimmer, spiketail, and flyer corpses. But green eater deaths didn't happen every day, neither! On the days where she had no reserve meat to feed herself and her family, she hunted mammals.

For the rest of the day and into the night, though, Chomper, V'Leck and Roary tried their hands at some of the traditional flattooth dances they've learned, though the ones done by the fourfoots were more difficult. They also did their own traditional sharptooth dances, including the one Ducky came to playfully call the "swimmer full of ants stomping dance". They abstained from doing the more risque sharptooth courtship dances because of the large amount of younglings running around.

Roary had already made friends with a lot of green eater children, and they came to accept him as one of their own, just as Little Foot and his friends did with Chomper all those seasons ago. For most of the rest of the day, Roary played a lot of improvised games of "tag" with them. Although he was now almost an adolescent, he still enjoyed playing these games with his much younger peers.

The celebration lasted well on into the right. Eventually, Cera and Wendyk bade good night to everyone around them as they retired to the cave dwelling they would now share. Several flattooth gave them some "pointers" on how to further "consumate" their union when they arrived at their cave. Cera just waved them off saying that she already had a pretty good idea how THAT was done. Wendyk just nodded politely at the male flattooths' advice.

She had also learned, during her time in the Sharptooth Countries, that many sharptooths also did the mating act for pleasure. She learned this mostly from Chomper, as he told her his romance stories from his courtship with V'Leck. Over the last few seasons, she had come to view Chomper as sort of a father figure, although he was younger than she. At times, he seemed wise beyond his actual age! She and Wendyk have never acutally said they wanted to have hatchlings; but if ever they decided to produce a next generation, they already knew how it was done.

Wendyk confessed to Cera that he was extremely nervous the first night they slept together, as he had never done this before with a threehorn female. Cera made him feel at ease by saying that she was just happy to be with him this first night. Wendyk DID feel relieved as he just lied down there beside her... and cuddled her... and she him... as they stroked each other tenderly... lovingly... before falling asleep in each other's embrace.

Eventually, the lingering partyers would stagger off to their own dwellings to sleep off this day and night of festivities.


	3. Chapter 2 Nightmare And Vision

**CHAPTER 2**

**NIGHTMARE AND VISION**

_Cera found herself in an all too familiar place. Looking around, she instantly knew she was back in The Valley of The Sick, in the heart of Sharptooth Country. But, unlike the last time she was here, it was empty. STRANGELY empty! She was the only one standing in the middle in the field; which was funny, because last time she was here, the field was literally filled with sick and dying sharptooth._

"_What am I doing here?" she said to herself._

_Then they shimmered into view: Sharptooth! Hundreds of them! They were all standing in a circle, surrounding her, looking at her; but they were unlike any sharptooth she had ever seen before; or maybe she had. She couldn't remember! In any case, many had dead looks in their eyes, or no eyes at all; just black, empty sockets. Others had blood streaming out of their nostrils, while still others had it coming out of their mouth, or coughing it up in rivlets._

"_What do you want! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" she was screaming._

_But they did not answer. Instead, they started moaning as they approached her. They slowly drew nearer! Some even called out to her, AND SHE ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THEM, as they were speaking the flattooth language!_

"_Help me, I'm dying!"_

"_Please save me!"_

"_Please... I need water!"_

"_I NEED FOOD! I'M HUNGRY!"_

"_Please hold me!"_

"_Be with me! I don't wanna die alone!"_

_She heard the phrases coming from all around her interspersed between the constant moaning and groaning sounds these sharptooth were making. She covered her earholes with the front paws in an effort to try and drown out the sound, but it was no use. They were almost on top of her now! "No... NOO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, but they did not seem to listen, or WANT to listen. _

_They were almost upon her now! All she saw were those bloody features... and their unblinking eyes... or their eyeholes! They reached their hands out towards her. She collapsed to the ground. She let out a huge scream as they reached down and tried to grab her._

She woke up with a start. She was breathing heavily. She heart was racing. It was still dark, which meant that the bright circle had still not risen in the sky.

Wendyk, who was lying beside her, sat up and looked at her. He had a worried look on his face. "Cera?"

When she didn't answer, he pressed. "Cera, are you all right? You were screaming."

Her heavy breathing finally slowed down, and her heart stopped pounding. She lay back down next to Wendyk. She wanted him to hold her, which he did.

"Oh, Wendyk... What a terrible nightmare..."

Then she started sobbing.

"Hey. HEY, Cera. It's ok. I'm here. Don't cry. Shhh!"

He held her even tighter, but she couldn't stop crying.

"You wanna talk about it?"

She finally did. "It was HORRIBLE. So HORRIBLE! I was back there..."

"Back where?"

She sobbed and sniffed. "In the Sharptooth Lands. In the Valley of The Sick!... And they were everywhere... EVERYWHERE!"

"Who? The sharptooth?"

After some more sobbing and sniffing, she nodded. "YES... But they weren't sharptooth! They were..."

She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

"It's okay, Cera. It was just a nightmare. It's over now! SSSHHH...Get some sleep. The bright circle still has not risen, and you have a big day tomorrow. You`ve got to give Roary his flattooth language lesson."

He kept trying to reassure her as he held her, but she couldn't seem to stop crying. Eventually, she did stop crying, and fell asleep again. She would have no other nightmares until she woke up the next morning to the rising bright circle.

"Now, repeat after me: It.. is... very... beaufitul... today!" Cera said to an eagerly listening Roary. They were both sitting on the grass not far from her cave dwelling. Cera was lying on all fours while Roary was sitting on his hind quarters with his feet spread apart, like a lot of two footers do.

"'Kay" Roary said as he tried his best to repeat Cera's phrase, but it came out sounding like. "E... iz...w...waaawweee... b...be..."

Cera mouth the word. "Bee-YOU-TEE-FUUUL!" slowly to Roary.

"...BEE-OOO-TEEE-FOOL" was Roary's effort.

"TOO-DAAAAYYYE..."

"TOO... DAYE!"

"Great, Roary! Try it again!"

"EET!...EEZ... W...WAAA-REEE... BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL... TOO...DAY!"

It WAS, in fact, a most beautiful day! The day dawned bright and clear, and it was still quite warm! It was the season where the days were still warm, which was why they decided to have their language lesson outside on the nice Great Valley grass; but as the bright circle went down in the evening, you could feel the cold chill in the air, announcing an impending season change.

Roary was always looking forward to his flattooth language lessons with Cera. He had grown quite fond of her! He even started calling her _"Auntie Cera"_. Although, with both Chomper and V'Leck being only childs, Roary had no real Aunts or Uncles. In a way, with the amount of time Cera spent looking after Roary and his lessons, they both felt that she was kind of like an "Aunt" to Roary. Her looking after Roary also gave them more time to spend with each other, as long as Chomper was not too busy with his Foreign Ambassador duties.

"Very good, Roary!" Cera praised, making Roary feel proud of his accomplishment.

"Try this phrase, now: The... bright... circle... is... shining!

"'Kay." Roary nodded. "The...b...brrrrr...eeeye..."

But Cera only partially heard his phrase as all the sound from around her seem to slowly dissipate. Her vision blurred to the point where she no longer saw the long necks and threehorns grazing in the distance. Then, when her vision cleared again, those green eaters were replaced by sharptooth. But they were not grazing... or eating meat... they were lying on the ground, contorting in pain, and moaning quite loudly. She could clearly hear them! Some were even coughing up blood! The nearest sharptooth got up and trotted up towards her. She saw that rivulets of blood were running from his nostrils. She was frozen in fear.

When the sharptooth reached her, he yelled out "Why did you let us DIE!" in the flattooth language.

A feeling on her right forelimb made her gasp. She suddenly saw Roary's worried face looking straight at her. He let loose a small questioning growl that meant _"Auntie Cera? Are you all right?"_ in his native sharptooth.

After a few moments, Cera blinked and shook her head. "Yes... I'm fine..." she said. "I was just... daydreaming..."

Roary let loose another questioning growl.

"Okay... Where were we?... Oh, yes! The...bright..."

And the lesson would continue without any further such incidents until Chomper came by to pick up Roary to take him home for dinner.


	4. Chapter 3 Worsening Condition

**CHAPTER 3**

**WORSENING CONDITION**

But this was not the end of what Cera was experiencing. Over the coming week, she had many more such episodes involving nightmares and hallucinations of sick and dying sharptooth. Pretty soon, it was starting to affect the way she could concentrate, focus, and interact with others. It also affected her sleep! There were nights where she hardly slept at all, or refused to go to sleep out of fear that the recurring nightmares would come back. And on the night where she DID sleep, the nightmares would come back and jolt her from her slumber. This greatly worried Wendyk! He saw how it was affecting his life mate. How it affected her mood, and how she could concentrate. He was seeing her slowly deteriorate, and there was nothing he could do to help her! He had a tremendous feeling of helplessness because of this!

Finally, he, his parents and his younger sister went to see Little Foot to tell him what's been happening, and find out if he knew anything about the sickness Cera had. They had gathered outside the cave dwelling she and Wendyk shared; and after Wendyk checked on her, he described to Little Foot what Cera's been going through; and looked at him hopefully. He, as well as her family-by-mating, hoped that he knew what was bothering her.

They were all greatly dissapointed when Little Foot said "Sorry, I have NO idea what she's got."

"Is there anybody else in The Great Valley who'd might have any idea?" Wendyk desperately asked.

"No! Cera's the only official medicine threehorn in the valley right now."

"I know a little bit about medicine, but not enough to know what's affecting her." Wendyk's father, a threehorn named Korkum, said.

"How's she doing?" Korkum then asked his son.

"She's sleeping right now, but she could wake up at any moment. Those nightmares are becoming more and more frequent."

Everybody was very sad and pensive.

"Come ON! There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do!" Wendyk cried out in desperation.

"Take it easy, son!" his father said. "I'm certain there's an answer. We simply haven't put our forepaw on it yet."

"Hey, everybody! What's goin' on?" Chomper said as he arrived.

"Oh, hey, Chomper!" Little Foot said in greeting to his sharptooth friend. "We seem to have a problem. Cera's sick."

"Oh? What's she sick of?"

"That's just it! Nobody knows!" Little Foot said with a sad shake of his head.

Then they described to him the symptoms she's been having. "Hmm... interesting..." he mused.

"Any idea what she may be suffering from, Chomper?" Wendyk's mother, Trixia, asked.

After thinking about it a moment, he shook his head. "Nope. Can't say I do!"

"I'm really worried about my sister-by-mating..." Wendyk's sister, Trinity, said.

"Don't worry, dear! I'm sure we'll find out what's making her sick VERY soon. Then we'll make her ALL better." her mother said as she comforted her.

Chomper hmmd as he tapped his finger on his chin in a thinking gesture. "The messenger from the Sharptooth Countries should be arriving here in tomorrow. I could send word to the Master Healer, the same sharptooth whom Cera taught all about the "Bloody Tummy" medicine plant. Maybe HE knows something about this..."

Little Foot nodded. "It's worth a try, Chomper."

The sound of screaming coming from the cave dwelling made them all turn. "Oh, shells!" Wendyk cursed. "Excuse me!" he said as he ran towards the cave. By the time the rest of them started trotting over to see if they could help, Cera was already crying very loudly.

Over the next few days, Cera was steadily getting worse. She simply refused to sleep out of fear the nightmares would return. And in the rare times where she finally succumbed to slumber, she was woken up a short time later as a result of the nightmares.

She was also experiencing hallucinations, and episodes where she just seemed to fade out. Everyone around her was growing increasingly worried, especially Wendyk. He just hated seeing his life mate in such a state!

By the time the sharptooth messenger arrived at Chomper's cave, Cera was bedridden, incapable of functioning, and being generally unresponsive. Korkum, her father-by-mating, took over her healer duties, as he said he knew a little bit about flattooth medicine; but not enough to look after anything more than a sprained ankle, or a case of the "sneezies and achies". Cera needed to get well, and get well fast!

Word was given to Chomper to not only send word of a session with the sharptooth Master Healer, but have him actually come to The Great Valley himself! Chomper sent the messenger off with the mention that _"Cera helped in curing the dreaded 'Bloody Tummy' disease; and it's only fair that Master Healer Rizon Drax help HER now!"_


	5. Chapter 4 Diagnosis

**CHAPTER 4**

**DIAGNOSIS**

It took another four days before the messenger returned with Master Healer Rizon Draxs. Chomper could tell that they were pushing themselves hard all the way. The Master Healer was slightly larger than Chomper, with a little bit darker shade of olive green that he did. The messenger that accompanied him was about V'Leck's size, with a lighter shade of olive green than he and the Master Healer. It wasn't very difficult for Rizon to break away from his normal every day responsibilities, for he had several equally capable Associate Healers to pick up where he left off.

When Chomper and Rizon arrived at Cera's cave, they saw that Petrie was sitting at the mouth of it, ready to look after Cera, should the need arise. They knew Wendyk was busy performing his guard duties, because they met him at the valley entrance. Polite greetings were exchanged between them, and Wendyk looked very hopeful as he let Chomper and the sharptooth healer through. Petrie got to his feet when he saw the two sharptooth arrive.

"Hi, Petrie!"

"Hi, Chomper!" Petrie waved happily.

"You remember Master Healer Rizon Drax, don't you?" Chomper asked as he gestured towards the larger, more imposing sharptooth.

"Of course! I help him with medicine plant doses in Valley of Sick."

The big Master Healer growled lightly in his direction.

"He says 'Hi.'" Chomper translated.

Petrie nodded. "Yes! I know. I able to pick up language when I was in Sharptooth Country." Chomper saw that he was somewhat intimidated by the big sharptooth while he said this. _Poor ol' Petrie, _Chomper thought. _He'll never change._

"How is she?" Chomper asked of his flyer friend.

"She in cave, just lying there, staring at nothing. I try talking to her, but it do no good."

Chomper nodded and patted Petrie's shoulder as they both entered the cave. Petrie looked sad and hopeful, at the same time, that the sharptooth healer could finally figure out what was wrong with his threehorn friend.

Inside the cave, they both found her lying on her bed of dry leaves, absently pawing the ground in front of her, looking very sad and tired. It seemed to Chomper that she had aged ten seasons from when he last saw her!

Chomper crouched down beside her. "Cera?... Cera, it's me. It's Chomper!"

After a few moments, she turned her sad eyes to face him. "Chomper?..." she asked in a hoarse voice.

Chomper smiled and nodded. "Yes! It's me!"

Cera allowed herself to smile a little. "Chomper! I'm so glad to see you..."

He brought himself closer to her and placed a hand on her back. "Cera? You remember Master Healer Rizon Drax of the sharptooth, don't you?" he said as he gestures toward Rizon.

She seemed not to react at all as Rizon smiled and rumbled at her.

"He says 'Hi, Cera. You don't look so well.'"

"_It seems the fortunes have turned! Rizon would say. "You helped me so much back in The Valley of The Sick; and now, I'm here to help YOU."_

"He says he's here to help you, Cera." Chomper said in translation.

She seemed unresponsive for a few moments, then she finally mouthed. "Help... me?"

The big sharptooth healer had a worried look on his facial features. _"She's obviously very depressed..." _ he said to Chomper. _"And quite fatigued. She's obviously not been sleeping well."_

"_Can you do anything for her?"_ Chomper asked Rizon.

"_Maybe... but I'll need to ask her a few questions."_

After a few moments, Chomper nodded.

By this time, Cera had laid her head down on her forelimbs, and looked to have fallen asleep; but Chomper sensed otherwise. "Cera? CERA!" he cried as he shook her. Cera took a few moments before opening her eyes and looked at them.

"Rizon needs to ask you some questions. You'll need to give honest answers to them. All right?"

It took a few more moments before Cera finally nodded.

A short time later, they both emerged from the cave to move away a bit, as Rizon wanted to discuss Cera's mysterious sickness in private with Chomper. Petrie was still standing there, but Ducky had joined him.

"Y –y-y-you find out what wrong with Cera?"

Chomper nodded. "Rizon Drax thinks he has. We were just about to discuss the details."

"Great!" Ducky chimed in. "In the meantime, I am going to go help Petrie find some berries, as his storage supply is running low. It is! It is!"

Chomper smiled. "Okay, you two! Go ahead! Me and Rizon'll look after Cera until Wendyk gets back."

"With me helping you with your berry picking, we will be done in no time. YEP! YEP! YEP!", Ducky said as they walked off laughing.

They moved away from the cave entrance so as not to bother Cera.

"_She has all the symptoms of a condition we first noticed a short time after we cured the 'Bloody Tummy' epidemic."_ Rizon said.

"_What sort of condition?" _Chomper asked.

"_We've not come up with a name for it, yet; but it comes from the lingering memories of the horror we all went through during that crisis. Many healers and volunteers who worked in The Valley of The Sick reported everything this threehorn described: Nightmares, hallucinations, not being able to sleep, feeling anxious, feeling tired, feeling depressed. It seems that the unpleasant experiences of that time affected them more than the others. And it looks to be affecting your threehorn friend, as well."_

Chomper nodded somberly. _"Is there anything you can do to help her?"_

Rizon sighed. _"I don't know... One of my associates, though, developed a technique where he makes the patients feel comfortable and relaxed. Sometimes even going as far as having them fall asleep! Then, through his tone of voice, and the power of suggestion, he makes all of the negative emotions and images rise to the surface so that they can be released."_

Chomper mused. _"Interesting... Does it work?"_

"_It's remarkable!" _the big sharptooth healer exclaimed. _"This treatment of his had helped many return to normal! Something like this may help Cera as well, but I`ve never done it before myself!"_

"_But even if you COULD do it ,we have another problem: Cera doesn't speak or understand sharptooth, so she won't be able to understand a word you're saying to her, and therefore, she won't be able to do as yow ask her. Also, she's always been a bit... apprehensive... about our kind. I'm sure you've noticed that. So it'll be equally difficult for her to... fully relax, in your presence. She's very comfortable around ME because she's known me for so long, and I speak the green eater language."_

"_I'm well aware of that, Teekul. It would be useless to have you sit in on one of the sessions to offer a translation, as my colleague`s technique works best when he's alone with the patient. And I HAVE noticed how close the two of you are with each other. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the two of you were mated!" _Rizon smiled.

Chomper rumbled a laugh. _"Seems funny, though: When we were young, she'd never really want to have anything to do with me. And NOW, she sees me as... I don't know... a 'surrogate father', almost."_

"_Yet you're younger than she is!" _Rizon grinned. _"Many sharptooth say you're wise beyond your seasons. Maybe that's why!"_

"_Or maybe it's because I've helped her so much... with many things. Including her breakdown in The Valley of The Sick."_

Rizon nodded. _"That wouldn't surprise me! You've always been the helpful sort."_

"_So if healing sessions based on your associate's technique is out of the question, what's the alternative?"_

"_Hmm..." _Rizon thought. _"Maybe talking about it with her closest friends and relatives will help her. We could get together, as a group, and make her talk about it. Make her tell us what it was that bothered her so much in The Valley of The Sick. What made her so afraid. That, too, has proven to be helpful in healing many patients suffering from a head sickness, like hers. I suspect it could be that she's suffering from a little misplaced guilt; but we'll only know for sure once we get together and make her tell us her story."_

"_That means we'll have to organize a get together with all of her green eater friends."_

"_How difficult will it be to do that?"_

"_Are you kidding! If it'll help her feel better, they'll want to get together immediately!"_

Rizon smiled. _"Great! We should check on her."_ he said as he glanced towards the cave.

"_Right." _Chomper said as he followed behind the healer.


	6. Chapter 5 Escape

**CHAPTER 5**

**ESCAPE**

Cera opened her eyes. She looked around, but she didn't seem to know where she was. She heard and all too familiar sound coming from outside. _SHARPTOOTH!_ She thought to her herself in horror. She got up and silently snuck up to the mouth of her cave. Then she saw them! _TWO of them!_ Yet she didn't seem to recognize who they were. They were obviously conversing with each other, yet she couldn't hear what they were saying. They were too far away. _What do they want!_ A thought occured to her. "I've gotta get out of here! I can't let 'em catch me!" she said to herself as she snuck out of the cave and silently crept away.

When they arrived at the mouth of the cave, Rizon peaked inside. He quickly turned to face Chomper with an urgent look on his face. _"She's gone!" _he exclaimed.

"_What!" _Chomper shouted as he peared inside the cave himself.

"_Oh, no!" _Chomper cried out as he brought his head up, looking worried.

"_We must find her!"_

"_And quickly, too!" _Chomper exclaimed as he looked around. "Cera? CERA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Chomper called as he and Rizon began to search the area for the missing threehorn.

Chomper and Rizon were walking through the forest near Cera's cave. They've looked everywhere for her, and have yet to find her. Chomper sniffed the air.

"_Anything?" _Rizon asked him.

Chomper sighed. As strong as his sense of smell was, he was unable to catch a whiff of the threehorn Cera. _"Nothing. Not even the HINT of a scent from her!"_

Rizon sniffed the air himself, then smacked his lips as if to taste that same air. _"Well, we have to keep looking!"_

"_Where could she BE!"_ Chomper said in frustration. "CERAAA! Cera, it's Chomper! Rizon's found the cure for your sickness! He wants to help you!"

They passed by a huge boulder, never noticing that Cera was hiding behind it. She had managed to stay upwind from them to avoid them getting her scent. _There's NO WAY they're gonna get a whiff of ME!_ She thought to herself as they walked past her hiding spot. "'Want to help me?' Yeah, right!" she said as she emerged from her hiding spot. "They'll NEVER catch me!" she sneered as she ran towards the valley plain.


	7. Chapter 6 In The Nick Of Time

**CHAPTER 6**

**IN THE NICK OF TIME**

Eventually, Chomper decided that they needed help in trying to find Cera. Both he and Rizon ran towards the valley entrance to see Wendyk and tell him what happened. While Wendyk cursed himself for not being there to prevent her from escaping in her delusional state, he mobilized search parties to try to find her. While this was being done, Chomper and Rizon went to find Little Foot and his green eater friends for help in the search efforts. Once word was sent to them, Chomper went to find V'Leck and Roary to solicit THEIR help in the search efforts. Rizon went to find the messenger, who was out hunting in The Mysterious Beyond, to solicit HIS help.

Thus the search for Cera began, and it lasted for most of the day, as Cera remained elusive.

Cera trotted down the valley plain, headed towards The Mourning Abyss. She saw sharptooth all around her. They were stalking her, taunting her, saying things like: "Where you going, you worthless THREEHORN!" and "Why did we have to DIE! You could've SAVED us!" in the flattooth language. Each time they said these things, she would always yell back at them to "SHUT UP!" or say "It wasn't my fault!" or "Leave me alone!" But this didn't diminish their taunting any, and they stayed right on her heels, even as she trotted faster towards the Mourning Abyss.

"What's the matter? We're not GOOD enough for ya! Just because we're SHARPTOOTH! You stupid, worthless THREEHORN!"

"WE didn't deserve to live! So why should YOU! Why don't you just KILL yourself!"

"I may just do that!" Cera shouted back at the sharptooth who said that. But it was all in her head. The sharptooth weren't really there. They all died in the Valley of The Sick all those seasons ago; but she was not able to tell the difference, in her delusional state.

She finally arrived at the edge of the Abyss, then she stopped. All of the imaginary sharpteeth gathered up behind her. They all looked down at her in anger. Many had bloddy noses and mouths. Others didn't have eyes in their sockets, but they were moving and talking.

"She's gonna do it! She's gonna JUMP OFF!"

"LET her do it! She couldn't save US, so everybody will be RID of her!"

"YEAH... She's nothing but a worthless THREEHORN anyway!"

They all rumbled laughter.

Cera's lips were quivering as she faced the Abyss.

The nearest sharptooth walked up beside her. "Go ahead! DO IT! It'll be over soon!"

"I...I...I don't know..." she said in a shaky voice.

"DO IT! After it's done, you'll no longer feel the way you feel. Then you'll be rid of us for GOOD!"

Cera sniffed a few times. Then, she brought her foot up over the abyss. All of the sharptooth behind her were looking down at her, and smiling. "DO IT!" the sharptooth beside her shouted one more time. Then, just as Cera was about to leap, another sharptooth rushed out from the crowd. Only this sharptooth was real! He grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the Abyss.

Cera screamed as she felt the sharptooth's arms grab hold of her and pull her back. "NO! Let me go!" she cried out as the sharptooth wrestled her to the ground and wrapped his arms and legs around her in a death grip. She groaned and struggled to get loose from his grip, but he was too strong.

"What are you doing!" she cried out at him. "You all wanted me to jump off, why are you stopping me now!"

"Cera, LISTEN TO ME!" the sharptooth shouted as he brought her head up next to his jaw so he can speak directly in her earhole. "NOBODY wants you to jump off. DO YOU HEAR ME! NOBODY!"

Cera then came out of her delusional state once she recognized the sharptooth's voice. "Chomper!"

"Yes, Cera! It's me! It's CHOMPER!"

Cera stopped struggling, then turned to face him. "Oh, Chomper..."

"It's a good thing I saw you when I did, and stopped you in time. I would NEVER've forgiven myself, if you'd jumped off."

Then he heard some roaring in the distance. _"OVER HERE! I found her!"_ he roared in the sharptooth language. He knew that was Master Healer Rizon calling out.

Cera then began to sob. Chomper held her tight. "It's okay, Cera! It's okay. It's AAALLL over now! Let it out! Let it AAAALLL out!" he said as she continued crying.

When she finally stopped crying, she looked up at Chomper. They were still lying on the grass. Chomper was still holding her tight. "Oh, Chomper! It was HORRIBLE! So HORRIBLE! All of those sharptooth... They wanted me to DIE! They wanted me to JUMP!"

"They weren't real... Those sharptooth were inside your HEAD." Chomper told her as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"And they have to COME OUT..." After allowed this to sink in, Chomper continued. "Rizon Drax has figured out a way to help you. It probably wouldn't completely cure you of your head sickness, but at least it's a way to treat it... to help make you feel better..."

Cera closed her eyes and laid her head down on his shoulder. "I just can't stand to feel this way anymore..."

"Which is why Rizon wants to help you..."

"No! You don't understand!" Cera cried out. She then said in a sobbing voice, her mouth quivering. "Back in The Valley of The Sick, I saw many sharptooth suffer... I saw many sharptooth DIE! I could hear them calling to me, begging for my help, because they knew I was a healer; but 'I' knew that there was nothing I could do. They were too far gone already... I KNEW that they couldn't be saved! Yet I can't help but feel that I FAILED them. I should've tried HARDER to find the cure! I knew my apprehension towards the sharptooth was holding me back! If only I could've put THAT aside sooner, I could've saved many more lives! All those sharptooth that died... I coulda saved them... I COULDA SAVED THEM... BUT I DIDN'T! I DIDN'T! I COULDN'T..."

Chomper hugged her again as she started bawling again. "It's okay, Cera. It's okay! I'm not gonna let you go. I'm NOT gonna let you go! SSHHH..."

He started rocking her back and forth and sang her that same lullabye he sang to her back in The Valley of The Sick when she had the exact same mental breakdown:

Chomper continued singing to her as all of those involved in the search rushed up and gathered all around them both. Eventually, Cera would stop crying, and feel strong enough to get back to her feet. Everybody walked her back towards the forest where the cave dwelling she shared with Wendyk was. Although Wendyk was walking beside her, wanting to comfort her, she stayed closer to Chomper. He had his arm around around her shoulders, and she didn't want him to let her go.


	8. Chapter 7 The Road To Recovery

**CHAPTER 7**

**THE ROAD TO RECOVERY**

Rizon Drax was relieved to hear that his suspicions were true. Cera was suffering from a head sickness brought on by the misplaced guilt she felt over not being able to save all of the sharptooth who died of the "Bloody Tummy" epidemic. Although he and his healer colleagues have not found a name for it yet, he figured "Horn's Misplaced Guilt Syndrome" would be appropriate. He'd have to wait and see what his healer colleagues would say about this. But one thing he was sure of: He'd be the first sharptooth healer EVER to cure a flattooth from an unknown disease. He couldn't wait to see what sort of honour Chief Berserker would bestow upon him, once he got back to The Sharptooth Lands, and word got around of his accomplishments.

He ALSO knew for sure that the course of treatment he suggested would be best thing to do to help cure her of the sickness. The very next day, a session was set up with Cera and all of her friends to begin the healing process. Rizon Drax and the sharptooth messenger would attend as well. Cera would then confess of what's been bothering her all this time, what she felt she could've done back then to save more lives than she really did, and why she felt she didn't fully do what was her solemn duty back then. Towards the end, she was moved to tears, and was comforted by everyone; but also praised her for her tremendous courage at telling something that she thought was deeply traumatic.

Chomper shared with her his own story of how he felt the exact same way when V'Leck separated from him, and took Roary with her as she moved out from the cave dwelling they all shared. For awhile, he felt it was his fault that she moved out, and took their son with her. He felt that if he hadn't held on to all of those _"Silly notions"_ about the green eaters, and wanting to teach Roary what he knew about his green eater friends, she never would've left him. He confessed that he was feeling quite depressed for awhile, but convinced himself that what he had learned from the flattooth when he was young was NOT "silly"; and that the sharptooth would eventually be made to see that they could stand to learn a lot from the flattooth ways. This gave him renewed hope, and made him feel better as a result.

There were a few more such sessions like this, and Rizon stayed to attend those as well. Once he was assured that Cera was feeling better, that the nightmares and hallucinations were gone, Rizon took his leave to return to the Sharptooth Lands. The messenger who had accompanied him also returned with the report of all the events that transpired, as well as a few other unrelated happenings Chomper felt was worth Chief Berserker hearing about. Before he left, though, Rizon told Cera that, although she was felling better now, a head sickness like hers could come back with a fury; but she knew what to do if ever she started getting the nightmares and hallucinations again. Rizon has seen other types of head sicknesses that lasted for an entire lifetime, he figured that this one was no different.

Following what's happened, Little Foot made it a priority that other green eaters be trained in medicine, in case Cera should relapse again due to her head sickness. Since Cera's father-by-mating, Korkum, already knew something about medicine, he was the first one to receive full training by Cera. Other worthy volunteers would come later.

On the night before Rizon and the messenger left, though, a private celebration was held in honour of Cera's accomplishments. It was an evening full of feasting and singing. Chomper entertained them with some traditional sharptooth songs that he had translated to the green eater language. Little Foot and his gang thought up a song in honour of Cera's sickness. They thought it was pretty funny. They called it "Nervous Breakdown". Cera also thought the song was funny when they sung it to her.

The sharptooth had a mixture of fish and mammal meat while the green eaters had their usual fare. The meat came from a mammal that was killed by V'Leck earlier that day; and as it turns out, it was similar to the mammal Chomper killed a short while back! She was already working on stripping the meat off of the skin, and fashioning the headress she wants to make out of it! The mammal was slightly smaller than the one Chomper killed. She figures it must've been a female, and Chomper had killed a male. Since V'Leck is slightly smaller than Chomper, the headress would fit just right! She's have to let it dry out under the bright circle for a couple of days before she's be able to wear it, though. Chomper did the same with _his_ headress.

The next morning, Chomper saw Rizon and the messenger off. It was another gorgeous day in The Great Valley, where life has returned to normal.


End file.
